Sea Cadets cut loose Staten Islander accused of sex abuse

In June 2003, Salvatore Emma, center, attended a national memorial service for officers killed in the line of duty. He was then a member of the city Sanitation Permit and Inspection Unit.

An Arden Heights Sanitation worker charged with sexually molesting two teenage girls was removed today as an instructor for Staten Island's Capodanno Division of the Naval Sea Cadets Corps.

Police and sources close to the program said Salvatore Emma, 44, had taken advantage of an April weekend training outing in Cape May, N.J., using his authority to access the restricted female barracks.

A police source said the Cape May drill weekend's commanding officer posted himself in front of the female barracks "because [Emma] would walk in and videotape everybody."

Emma, of the 400 block of Arden Avenue, was arrested Tuesday on charges that he sexually abused a 17-year-old girl since 2002, and a 14-year-old girl for more than a year.

Emma, a Sanitation worker and former Sanitation Department police officer, served as an instructor and public affairs officer since December for the Island's division of the national Navy Sea Cadets program, which teaches teens ages 13-17 about the Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard and Merchant Marine.

Parents speaking on the condition of anonymity told the Advance yesterday that they and Emma's fellow NSCC instructors complained numerous times to the program's higher-ups about the Cape May and other alleged incidents.

"These children were at risk," one source said.

Lt. j.g. James Armstrong, commanding officer of the Island's NSCC Capodanno Division, said the only complaint registered against Emma "was that he was a strict disciplinarian."

Last month, Emma notified Armstrong that he was taking a leave of absence from the program. Armstrong said he first heard of Emma's arrest last night when he returned from a trip out of town.

When word got out that Emma was charged with sexually abusing two teen girls, Armstrong said he called his superiors in Manhattan and received permission to immediately dump the accused child molester "entirely" from the program.

"I want my kids to be safe. And I want them to be happy. That's my biggest concern," Armstrong said.

Emma is a former Sanitation police officer who was reassigned due to city budget cuts to a route working out of the sanitation garage on West Service Road near the West Shore Expressway.

A Sanitation Department spokesman said Emma has not been suspended, but is currently listed as "absent without leave" with the department. Emma will not be paid as long as he is AWOL from his city job, and "everything is pending the outcome of the case," the spokesman said.

Emma is jailed at Rikers Island on charges of attempted rape in the second degree, and two counts each of second-degree criminal sexual act and endangering the welfare of a child.

The charges of attempted rape and criminal sexual act are both Class D felonies punishable by up to seven years in prison upon conviction.

Emma is represented by public defender Zoie Mair. Ms. Mair was out of the office yesterday afternoon and unavailable for comment.